Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters
by TaigaaGina
Summary: Sequel to 'Barhopping'. Souyo-hime asks the Yorozuya's help in finding a missing person. GinHiji, OkiKagu and YamaShin!
1. Don't Go Poking the Beehive!

**Author's notes:** This is a sequel to "Barhopping on Weekdays is What Bums Do". It happens about a month after my first fic.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit fanfiction. Gintama belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 1 – Don't Go Poking the Beehive! It's Not Good for Many Reasons**

_Help me..._

_Ei-chan... Please, help me..._

-x-x-x-

Although for once he hadn't been woken up by the all-penetrating rays of his mortal enemy, the sun, Gintoki wasn't feeling the jolliest that morning. It wasn't because of the killer hangover, or because of the black eye he had gotten last night at the bar, but because he had been forced out of his remotely warm bed to open the door to the freezing autumn air for two young girls, who just kept gaping at him. Gintoki knew he wasn't at his best with messy hair, unshaven face and bloodshot eyes, but that didn't give the girls the right to make him stand there in the cold in his pyjamas.

"You're not mine, are you?" Gintoki grumbled. Better get that out of the way as soon as possible.

"Huh?" the human girl questioned. She had a long and shiny black hair, fair complexion and unmarred skin, something that was very rare among the children in Kabukichou. Most of them had scratches and were dirty, proof of the hard life in the 'illegal' district. The other girl, a humanoid Amanto, had yellowish skin, a black hair that looked kinda fuzzy, pointy ears and black eyes with no pupils. She also appeared to have two antennae sticking out of her head. Both of the girls were wearing thick and warm kimono, a fact that made Gintoki even more pissed.

"Look, if you don't have any real business with me, then beat it. I'm not in the mood to play with kids."

"Um... This _is_ the Yorozuya, right?" the human girl asked and glanced at her companion.

"Wha-?"

"GIN-CHAN!" a flying kick sent Gintoki crashing to the wall on his right, making the wood splinter a little and miraculously not breaking his skull, "Shut the door! I'm freezing my ass off here!"

"Your highness!" Kagura glanced at the door and her eyes widened when she recognised the girl.

"Souyo!" she hugged the princess and squealed, "Wow! It's been so long!"

"I'm glad to see you too, your highness."

Gintoki closed the door, shutting the three girls out. Everything was becoming too bizarre for him to make any sense of in his current condition, so instead he decided to return to his bed and hope that after a few days of sleep, things would've somehow resolved themselves. He ignored the banging that started almost immediately.

"What the hell? Gin-chan, let us in!"

"Kagura-chan, why are you standing out here in your pyjamas?"

-x-x-x-

"_And we're back for more news about the current events,"_ the TV-announcer chirped, _"Two days ago her majesty, the queen of the planet Amrita, Matri Sultana Shinni IV arrived to Edo for a diplomatic visit, to meet our shogun, Tokugawa Shigeshige himself. Her plan is to visit other countries and their leaders as a sign of good will towards humans and other Amanto."_

"_Yes,"_ another announcer joined in, _"As we know, lately other planet unions have shown their distaste towards Amrita's more questionable laws, especially the one still allowing slavery in their home world."_

"_The Alliance of the Three Suns has been trying to coax Amrita to abandon this tradition, but during the Ruche Wars, Amrita left the Alliance and thus they can easily disregard the high officers' commands."_

"_Apparently there is also lot of inner turmoil in Amrita. It seems as though some of the citizens want to rejoin the Alliance and reform the laws. There's even been rumours about a revolution."_

"_Most seem to think that that is the real reason behind her majesty's sudden depart. Especially since she also took her only daughter with her."_

Gintoki turned off the TV and stared in front of him, mind blank and listening to Kagura chatter with Souyo and her companion. Shinpachi placed cups of tea in front of them and sat next to Gintoki, eyes looking a little desperate. Finally, Gintoki decided to get the ball rolling.

"So," he cleared his throat, "Who were you again?"

"I am Souyo, the younger sister of Tokugawa Shigeshige, the barbarian-subduing shogun," Souyo bowed slightly.

"I am Eileen Yan Shinni V, the daughter of her majesty queen Matri Sultana Shinni IV, as well as the next high ruler of our beautiful Mother Amrita," the Amanto girl followed Souyo's example, bowing to the two men who looked like they wanted to spit blood.

"Ah! I'm Yorozuya Kagura, the queen of Kabukichou," Kagura introduced herself to the fellow Amanto, "And these are my underlings," she waved towards the guys dismissively, "What brings you to my establishment?"

"Well..."

"Gin-san, they just totally skipped over us."

"I'm more surprised that Kagura actually knows what 'establishment' means."

"Actually, the one who requires your help is not I, but Eileen-sama," Souyo beckoned towards the Amritan, "Go on, you can trust her highness. She's a professional and has helped me once before."

"Shinpachi, maybe we shouldn't let Kagura wander around alone so much."

"It's about a friend of mine," Eileen searched her sleeves and finally pulled out a photo of a young human girl, "Yura came to Earth with mother and I. It's been a long time since she last saw other humans, so she wanted to explore the town on her own. It's now been two days and she still hasn't returned to the castle."

"But," Shinpachi fixed his glasses, "If one of your friends is missing then why come to us? Why not let the castle guards or Shinsengumi search for her? I'm sure there's nothing wrong even if your own personal guards looked around the town a little."

Eileen looked away, ashamed, "Mother wouldn't do something like that to find _Yura._"

"But-"

"Your highness," Souyo turned to Kagura, "You need to understand something. Yura-san is a slave."

Souyo's sentence was followed by a deep silence. Eileen closed her pupilless eyes and her antennae drooped, "Mother wouldn't lift a finger to find one _slave_ when there are thousands to choose from. It would cause too much of a scandal."

"I'm sorry," Gintoki's voice sounded cold, "If you want us to track down a runaway slave, I'm afraid we can't help you."

"No! You do not understand!" Souyo came to her friend's defence, "It's not like that! Eileen-sama really cares about Yura-san!"

"Please!" Eileen pleaded, "Although my mother gave her to me as a personal slave, I've _never_ thought of her like that! She's my only friend in Amrita! She's like a sister to me!"

Shinpachi and Kagura looked at Gintoki. He scratched his head and sighed, meeting Eileen's desperate black eyes, "What if she just wanted to get away? What if she wanted to return to her home planet?"

Eileen's antennae drooped more, "If so, then why didn't she tell me? I would have let her go."

"Maybe there was some reason why she couldn't tell you and thought it would be easier to just disappear."

Eileen blinked her eyes rapidly. Although she apparently didn't have tear ducts, she was obviously doing some sort of Amritan version of crying. Souyo placed her small hand on her friend's shoulder and looked at the Yorozuya trio, "Even if that is the case, we still want to make sure that she's save."

Gintoki was torn. Although his own personal values (as well as his survival instincts) told him not to get involved in this any further, he couldn't stand the broken look on both Eileen and Souyo's faces. Not to mention Kagura, Shinpachi and even Sadaharu were looking at him, waiting for is approval.

_Damn me and my weakness for children!_ "All right. We'll help you, but if it's true that your friend just wants to live her life on Earth, you _will_ return to your mother and leave her alone. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Eileen blinked few more times before finally stopping, "Thank you so much!"

_Well,_ Gintoki thought, _It's not like this day could get any worse._

-x-x-x-

_Well, it's not like this day could get any worse,_ Hijikata thought as he sneezed. Seriously, he just couldn't fathom why it was that all the royalties always had this sudden urge to mingle with the common folk, causing nothing but trouble for everyone involved. He lifted his gaze as Sougo came back, "Well?"

"Nothing," the younger officer informed him, "No one has seen anyone who matches the description. You'd think that as big news as the Amritans arriving to Earth was, people would immediately recognise if one of their race were walking around."

"Either people are getting dumber or the princesses were actually able to disguise themselves," Hijikata took a drag from his cigarette, "By the way, any word from Yamazaki yet?"

"None," Sougo looked at the map of Edo that all the Shinsengumi members were carrying, "It's been well over a week now."

"That idiot better not have screwed up or something."

"I'm sure he's just unable to contact outside. Where should we search next?"

"I don't know," Hijikata flicked the cigarette away, stomping on it in frustration, "God dammit! What the hell were they thinking? How could Souyo-sama endanger an important guest like this?"

"Well, this isn't her first disappearance act. Maybe she just wanted to show the Amritan princess around the town."

"But why now? Ugh! The whole castle is in an uproar again. The queen will be demanding blood if we don't find her daughter soon!"

"She's pretty overprotective. Maybe that's the reason why Eileen-sama took off. You know, feeling suffocated from being with her mother all the time."

"You would be overprotective too if you could only have _one_ daughter during your lifetime."

"Fine, but what now? Should we just pretend to be searching and take a leisurely walk?"

"We need to find the princesses. You know it's not safe for them to wander around. Especially now."

"Well, I think no one's checked the Kabukichou yet," Sougo looked at the map again, "Last time, wasn't her highness hanging around with China?"

Hijikata felt his blood freeze. It was as if the autumn wind had become a few degrees colder.

"GOD DAMMIT!"

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** The Amritans are based on the bees and the last name of Eileen and her mother means 'bee' in Somali. Also, Eileen comes from the word 'alien' and Matri from 'matriarch'. Ruche means beehive in French.

I like both GinHiji and OkiKagu, but there doesn't seem to be a fic with both of these pairings, so I had to write my own ^-^ There are lots of similarities between these pairings, like both Gin-san and Sougo have colour-changing eyes (red) and both of them are referred to as sadists (although, Sougo is more extreme). Also, whenever the Yorozuya and Shinsengumi meet, it's always Gin vs. Hijikata, Kagura vs. Sougo and Shinpachi and Yamazaki standing at the background, wishing that they were somewhere else. I also noticed that it's always Gin-san who starts to pick a fight with Hijikata and Sougo with Kagura. Only rarely do Hijikata and Kagura start the fights (they usually just try to ignore the idiots) ^-^

Oh, and Sougo calls Kagura China if you didn't know that.


	2. Nothing In Life is Ever Easy

**Author's notes:** Sorry it took so long but I have so many reports to write at the University :(

Yawen : I'll see what I can do about your request. It should be possible ^-^

GinHiji : Thanks to you, I just came up with another plot-twist and now this story will be longer than I originally meant ^-^

Katya-chan : NO-WAY! You like YamaShin, too! Hurray! I originally planned to have that pairing too, but since it's so rare, I thought people wouldn't like it. But now that I have an ally, I'll return to my original plan. FROM THIS MOMENT ON, THIS STORY WILL ALSO HAVE YAMAZAKI/SHINPACHI!

Remember, it's late autumn in this fic so they dress up accordingly.

**Disclaimer:** This is a non-profit fanfiction. Gintama belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 2 – Nothing in Life is Ever Easy, Unless You Make It So**

"So you're sure you haven't seen this girl?" Gintoki asked once more, waving the picture of Yura in front of him.

"For the last time, no, I haven't," Hasegawa snapped, trying to protect the roasting chestnuts from the Yorozuya's hungry gaze, "Maybe she's just on the run. You know, teenage angst or something."

"See, that's what I thought, too, but the kids are so hyped up about this that I decided to play along," Gintoki scratched his head, "I kinda hoped that the first person I talked to would know something. Would've made this a lot more easier."

"Gin-san, with all due respect, I don't think doing your job half-assedly will get you any results."

"Says you, the guy who can't even roast chestnuts properly."

"Hey! You need to pay for those!"

"Come on, you were an officer... ish person once. Don't you have any insider info about missing people or something?"

"I worked for the Immigration Control. All I ever did was kick people out of the country."

"Well, have you at least heard anything lately? I mean, look at her," Gintoki signed towards Eileen who was shivering a few feet away, "She may be a foreign royalty, but she's still a kid. Help her out a little."

Luckily Hasegawa apparently was just as weak for kids as Gintoki himself. He sighed dejectedly, "I don't know if it's helpful at all, but I met some of my former co-workers the other day. Looks like there's something big going on, something about disappearances."

"You mean kidnaps?"

"I don't know, they couldn't talk a lot about the Department's affairs. Apparently, the authorities are looking into this matter and everything's really hush-hush. I think it has something to do about same kind of incidents happening on other planets as well."

"Do you know who are disappearing?" Gintoki inquired.

"I'm sorry, I don't really know the details," Hasegawa apologised, "But if your girl is missing as well, it might be more than just a coincidence."

Gintoki sighed. This whole thing was starting to look more and more complicated, "Well, thanks for the treat, Hasegawa-san."

"What treat? Hey! Put those back! You trying to get me fired? Gin-san? Gin-san!"

"Here," Gintoki handed a bag of roasted chestnuts to the shivering princess, "Everything all right?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to the cold," Eileen mumbled while nibbling on a chestnut. She looked up hopefully, "Did you find out anything?"

"Not sure," Gintoki decided to be honest, "I heard something, but if it has anything to do with your friend, it's not really good news."

"Oh, Yura..." Eileen's antennae drooped and she started to blink rapidly.

"Come on, it might not have anything to do with her. Maybe she just got lost. You said she hadn't been in Edo before," Gintoki hurried to reassure her.

"Yes... Apparently, she was sold when she was really young. She can't remember much of her home planet."

"So she might have just forgotten how to get back to the castle. Cheer up, your highness," suddenly Gintoki placed his hand on Eileen's head to hide her antennae and turned her towards a nearby store's window, "Don't turn around", he whispered.

Through the reflection of the window Gintoki watched as two police officers walked past them, looking closely at a crowd of people. Once they were gone, Gintoki took off his red scarf, tying it around Eileen's head. They started walking to the opposite direction of the policemen, Eileen hiding her face deeper into the scarf.

"They must've noticed your disappearance," Gintoki commented.

"I'm sorry. This must be really inconvenient for you."

"It's nothing. Looks like they're trying to play it low, or the public would've been alerted as well."

"Mother wants to avoid scandals. Especially now that Amrita has been so restless," Eileen explained.

"Well, as long as we only have to deal with the regular tax-robbers we'll be fine. It's when they release the bloodhounds that things will get tricky."

"Hounds?"

Gintoki sighed again. If the Shinsengumi got involved (as they most certainly would) it would mean not only more trouble, but also that he'd likely run into a certain Vice-Commander. He could feel his chest tighten. He wasn't all that sure he wanted to meet the other man just yet. Silently he prayed that Shinpachi and Kagura's group had had better luck.

-x-x-x-

"I don't think they're home," Sougo mumbled in his usual, bored voice.

Hijikata gritted his teeth and kicked the sliding door in. He stomped around the apartment, checking the rooms but unconsciously avoiding the bedroom. Finally he returned to the foyer and slid open the closet door.

"What's this?" Sougo asked.

"The Yato girl's room."

"_Really?"_ suddenly interested the younger officer peeked into the closet, only to have Hijikata drag him outside.

"We don't have time for this!"

"You've been kinda irritated lately, Hijikata-san. Be careful or you might pop a vein and then where would we be," Sougo commented.

"Since when did my health become any of your concern!"

"Just saying. Maybe you need to get laid or something?"

_I did. That's the whole problem!_

"What _is_ all that racket up there?" someone yelled from below them and the two officers leaned over the railing to see the Yorozuya's landlady standing outside her shop, smoking an elegant pipe, "If you have business with the bums upstairs, they've been gone for a while now."

"Did you see if they had two young girls with them?" Hijikata asked while descending the stairs.

"Yes. About the gluttonous one's age."

Hijikata cursed loudly. Of course the Yorozuya had to be involved in this. They _always_ were. He could feel his chest tighten. He wasn't all that sure he wanted to meet the other man just yet, "Do you happen to know which way they went?"

"When they noticed me, they split up and ran, like always," the woman blew a smoke ring and looked at both Hijikata and Sougo from head to toe, "You boys are Shinsengumi, right? Finally putting that rent-dodging bum away?"

"No, ma'am. I'm afraid we're here on other business."

"Well you should! That free-loader's four months late in his payment!"

"Hijikata-san," Sougo ignored the landlady, "I think it's safe to assume that the girls are with danna and his groupies. What should we do?"

"Give an order to hunt down those idiots! Dead or alive, I don't care," seeing the wicked grin on Sougo's face, he hurried to add, "I mean alive! Pull something stupid and I'll have your head!"

"Spoilsport," Sougo muttered and contacted the other troops with his communicator, "Okita here. The pigeons are with the Yorozuya. Find them, post haste. Leave China to me."

"What the hell's _your_ problem with that girl?" Hijikata wondered.

"Good luck, Hijikata-san. I'll see you around."

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"I think we should split up, too. We'll cover more ground that way. Or something. Frankly, I just don't want to hang out with you any more."

"Hold it! Who knows what kind of disaster you'll cause by yourself! You stay with me, Sougo!" Hijikata _really_ didn't want to be alone if he ran into the perm-head. Who knew what would happen.

"Hey, you!" he could feel a bony hand on his shoulder, "What about the rent? I demand justice!"

"Bye, Hijikata-san."

_Dammit! When I find that guy, someone's going to die!_

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** Okay, I don't know how often I'll be able to update since I have so much school work, but I try to update at least every other week.

Notice how Gin-san and Hijikata are having same thoughts? I'm so clever...

Okita calls Gintoki 'danna', if you didn't know. It means 'the master of household' but can also mean 'husband' if the wife says it.

Thanks for your reviews! XD


	3. What's That Thing?

**Author's notes:** It took so long because of school work and Pokémon Diamond. My Himiko finally evolved into a Luxray!

Thank you so so much for your reviews! They help me keep writing ^-^

**Disclaimer:** This is a non-profit fanfiction. Gintama belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 3 – What's That Thing on Your Shoulders? Oh, It's Just Your Head**

"So I take it you haven't heard anything, either," Shinpachi sighed as he saw the look on Tetsuko's face.

"Sorry, I don't really go out that much," the sword-smith examined her work before looking up again, "I don't see many people unless they're customers, and even those have been scarce these days."

"It must be tough for you with the current sword-ban," Shinpachi sympathised.

"Well, luckily the Shinsengumi and other officers need to keep their equipment in shape, so it's not like I'm totally out of work," Tetsuko smiled.

"But aren't there also other ways to earn money? I mean, like selling for others than the police?" Kagura asked from where she and Souyo were admiring the swords.

Tetsuko glared at her, "I admit that I have gotten few offers to make weapons for certain... factions, but I've declined them all," she looked at Shinpachi, "People like that are usually the kind who don't deserve my works."

"I understand," Shinpachi nodded, "Let's forget about seeing people for now. Have you heard anything else that could be helpful to us?"

Tetsuko thought for a while, "There might be something... About a week ago the daughter of the grocery store owner down the street went missing."

"Were there any clues?" Shinpachi asked as both Kagura and Souyo joined him.

"Nothing. She just vanished. The last time she had been seen was when she parted with her friends."

"Can you tell us anything about the girl?" Souyo inquired.

"There's really nothing special. She's ten years old, maybe a little older. Wild, can take care of herself. You know, like most girls around here," she looked thoughtful, "Actually, that's what's so weird about all this. Kabukichou is a dangerous place, yes, but kids know that and can handle themselves fairly well. That one just up and disappears without a trace seems odd."

"If it had been me, I would've at least trashed everything around me," Kagura informed.

"And this girl was no angel, either. I mean, she has seen shoplifters and gangsters. She should have at least been able to leave something behind."

"Maybe whoever took her was no ordinary Kabuki-thug," Shinpachi pondered.

Tetsuko nodded, "I came to that conclusion, too."

"So, what does this mean?" Souyo asked, worried.

"It might not mean anything, yet. Perhaps two girls disappearing is just a coincidence," Shinpachi thought, "Let's ask around some more. If these cases _are_ connected, I'm afraid your highness' friend might be in big trouble."

Souyo gasped and Kagura laid a hand on her shoulder, "Come on, we'll beat the shit out of whoever's behind this thing."

"Thank you, your highness."

"I'll ask around, too," Tetsuko said, "I at least know all the people on this street so they'll open up to me more easily."

Shinpachi and Souyo bowed, "Thank you so much, Tetsuko-san."

"No problem. I'll contact you if I find out more."

Outside the sword-smith's house Kagura whistled to summon Sadaharu to them. She helped Souyo on the monster-dog's back and turned to Shinpachi, "Where should we go next?"

"I want to find out more about this whole disappearing thing. Kagura-chan, where do the kids usually hang out?"

"At the park or one of the northern alleys," she blew on her hands to warm them up, "It's getting cold, though, so I'm not sure if there are going to be many of them around."

Shinpachi looked up as the first flakes of snow started to fall down, "Are you all right, princess?"

"I'm fine, just a little worried about Eileen-sama. She's not very good with the cold."

"Don't worry, Gin-chan won't let anything happen to our client," Kagura smiled.

"Let's get moving or we'll be the ones to freeze," Shinpachi ordered, "We'll try the park first. Otose-san might also know something. Her snack-shop has lots of customers."

"Uh, when was the last time we paid granny?" Kagura muttered.

Shinpachi shuddered as he thought about that, "A- anyway, we need to collect as much information as we can before meeting up with Gin-san, so let's get going."

They started moving forward as the air got colder and the snowfall grew heavier. Shinpachi hoped that whatever had happened to the two girls, they would be somewhere warm and safe from the early winter winds. He gulped at the foreboding feeling he suddenly had as he watched people run for shelter.

-x-x-x-

Gintoki peeked around the corner. The policemen seemed to be gone, so he grabbed the small hand of the Amanto princess and dashed down the streets. He had to admit, the princess had some guts. She had endured the running and hiding without a word, although she was obviously suffering from the cold. It was hailing now and Gintoki could see the girl's skin turn an odd shade of greenish yellow. He felt bad for doubting her sincerity. If she was ready to suffer like this, she must really care about this Yura girl.

He slowed to a brisk walk as they came to a more crowded street, placing his hand on Eileen's shoulder to guide her into a small café. He chose a corner booth and sat down, picking up the menu, "We'll rest here for a while."

Eileen's black eyes looked thankful as she tried to catch her breath. She rubbed her cold fingers and antennae, her skin colour slowly returning back to normal. She looked at the small bowl of sugar that was placed on the table and her antennae twitched slightly.

"You can have it if you want," Gintoki smiled, "I'll order us something warm to drink."

She almost immediately dove for the sugar, sucking on the white cubes happily. She finally looked up and her face blushed slightly, "I'm sorry. We Amritans need lots of sugar to stay energised."

"Hey, me too," Gintoki grinned as he waved the waiter over and placed their orders, "I can't usually get anything done until I get my fix."

"I didn't know Earthlings need sugar to survive, too."

"Well, I think it's just one of those things that connects people."

"Yes," Eileen looked melancholic, "Yura used to say something like that, too."

Gintoki watched the princess thoughtfully, "You must really care about that girl."

"You know," Eileen started blinking rapidly, "The Amritan queen gives birth to only one daughter during her lifetime. I have about ten brothers but no sisters. When Yura was assigned to be my personal slave, I finally got to know what it was like to socialise with other girls."

"Didn't you have any other friends?"

"Not really," Eileen shook her head, "I'm the next queen so my life has been sheltered. If something were to happen to me, it would cause major problems about who'd inherit the crown after my honourable mother."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Yura was the first to come up with the idea to sneak out of the palace," Eileen continued, lost in her her memories, "I knew it was dangerous and foolish, but I wanted so badly to get to see what life was like on the other side of the walls. We would sneak out often, even during the diplomatic visits. We would convince other princesses and ladies to come with us and just have some fun around the town," Eileen smiled at the fond memory, "It's easy for Yura to get along with people, no matter what race they are. She would always scout the surroundings by herself, find out the most interesting places and what we should avoid. She wanted to make sure no one got hurt during our little adventures."

"So, Yura is actually used to wandering around places she's never been to before?" Gintoki pondered.

"Yes. She used to belong to some researcher before she was sold to Amrita. She's a master at collecting information."

"You don't say," this changed everything. Gintoki had assumed Yura had just simply gotten herself lost in an unknown city, but according to Eileen that was almost impossible. There were places far more dangerous than Edo, so if Yura could survive those, what had happened to her this time? This didn't seem like a simple case of a lost girl any more.

"Here you go," the waiter interrupted, placing two mugs on the table. Eileen sniffed at her own, looking puzzled.

"What is this?"

"Something to make you more energised," Gintoki sipped his own drink, hissing as the hot liquid burned his tongue.

Eileen took a tentative sip of the drink. Her eyes widened and her antennae perked up, "Oh!"

"Thought you might like it," Gintoki grinned, placing his own hot chocolate on the table.

"It's so rich," Eileen took another sip, jumping up a little, "Hot, but really sweet."

"You don't have to drink it right away. Wait 'till it cools down a little. It's good for warming your hands, too," Gintoki instructed and Eileen nodded, listening carefully.

"You know," Eileen started after a while, "There was something more I gained from all those trips we took to the different towns. I got to see how people lived and how things _really_ were. Especially on Amrita," she looked up at Gintoki, "And how slaves were treated. As if they had no rights or minds of their own. It was horrible, the first time I saw it. That might have been why Yura wanted to show me the outside world. After my honourable mother, _I_ will be responsible for everything that happens on my planet."

"So she wanted to show you what it is that you're _really_ getting yourself into," Gintoki stirred his hot chocolate, "Sounds like a smart girl, this Yura."

"Actually," Eileen leaned forward, lowering her voice and glancing around, "When I inherit the throne, I'm planning on putting a stop to the whole slave tradition."

"I'm not saying that it's a bad idea," Gintoki said, "But it won't be easy," he knew how hard it was to change people, and judging from the way Eileen was acting now, she herself had some growing up to do before she was ready to challenge a centuries old system.

"I know that," Eileen lifted her chin up stubbornly, "That is exactly why I am going to need all the help I can get. That is why I need Yura."

Gintoki had to smile at that, "Well, I guess it's good to have goals. I'll be cheering for you, your highness."

Eileen started to smile back, but suddenly her eyes turned wide. Even before that, and before one of the female patrons of the café screamed, Gintoki had thrown himself sideways to avoid the blade that was about to cut his head off. He glared up at the man holding the weapon, readying to attack again.

"Return the girl."

"Kagura's not with me right now."

"Oh," Sougo muttered, placing his sword back into its sheath, "Sorry about that, danna."

"Sorry, my ass... You almost beheaded me, you idiot!"

"Well, I thought that kinda slaying China's boss would definitely get her riled up," Sougo smiled at the thought, "But if she isn't here, I don't really care any more. Hello, your highness. I'm Okita Sougo, the Captain of the First Division of Shinsengumi."

Eileen looked astounded but was still able to bow her head slightly as Gintoki and Sougo sat down. Gintoki glared as the younger man snagged his mug of hot chocolate, took a sip, grimaced at the sweet taste and handed it back to the Yorozuya, "What are you doing here?"

"Um, we were kinda ordered to find the two missing princesses."

"So why aren't you doing anything now that you did find one of them?"

"I hoped to be able to see the disgusted look on China's face as I robbed her off of her friends."

"I don't think I should let you near Kagura any more," Gintoki muttered, "I _am_ kinda her guardian while she stays on Earth."

"What? I haven't done anything."

"Um..." Eileen looked worriedly at Gintoki, "Is he a police officer, perchance?"

"You have nothing to fear, your highness. This guy's an idiot and a slacker."

"I resent that comment, danna."

"Then, if he's your friend, could he help us with finding Yura?"

Gintoki sighed as he pulled out the girl's picture and plastered it on Sougo's face, "Yura. Girl. Disappeared two days ago. Know anything? Talk."

Sougo looked carefully at the photograph, "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell."

"Bullshit!" Gintoki snapped, "I know there's something going on, something the police are trying to keep from the public. You better tell the truth, or your head's going to go through that wall."

"You didn't ask nicely."

"That's it. Say hello to Mr. Wall."

"Fine," Sougo grabbed the table as Gintoki tried to lift him up, "This Yura girl, something about her _does_ sound familiar, but I can't go around talking about it to unauthorised personnels."

"The hell? You're always talking about secret stuff. Few weeks ago you stood in a freaking street corner yelling about the Shinsengumi's private matters through a megaphone!"

"I was bored that day."

"Well, what keeps you from telling me about something that may help safe a girl's life this time?"

"I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because usually Hijikata-san isn't there glaring at me like that."

Gintoki sat there silently. Slowly he turned around to meet a pair of stormy, impossibly blue eyes. He leaned back and scratched his head, "Damn."

"Damn indeed."

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** I have good news for you. Looks like I didn't get a job for the summer so all I can do now is to spent the whole summer writing. This hopefully means more updates. This month is still busy, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to update before the school is out.

The hot chocolate-part was my own personal favourite in this chapter. Although he doesn't always act like it, Gin-san is really good with kids ^-^ He would make a great father. Meanwhile, Hijikata seems like the type to overly worry and scold his kids (like he does with Shinsengumi). If he and Gin-san were married with kids, it would probably be like "I'm trying to raise our kids to be respectable members of society and you just let everything slide! Do you want them to grow up to be punks! Huh!" then, when the kids aren't home they would make up ^-^


	4. Run Lola Run!

**Author's notes: **I'm back! Let's see if I can keep up updating once a week.

Chron : Otae already appeared in the prequel so I wasn't going to put her in this story, sorry. But Kondou will definitely appear, so let's see what I can make of that.

GinHiji : There aren't two queens missing but two princesses. Both Souyo and Eileen are princesses. Sougo meant them.

idiotsite : Don't worry, there will be yaoi ^-^

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit fanfiction. Gintama belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 4 – Run Lola Run!**

Hijikata really, really, _really_ didn't want to run into the silver-haired samurai. For the past month, he had made sure not to get any assignments anywhere near the Kabukichou, spending unnaturally long hours indoors doing paperwork, even ones belonging to Kondou and Sougo. Not that either one ever _did_ their paperwork, the other being too busy stalking that Shimura woman and the other just being an idiot.

The point was that Hijikata didn't want to see the Yorozuya.

Yes, it had been Hijikata who had lured the other in bed...

And yes, it had been Hijikata who had basically given the other free reign...

But _that_ didn't mean that he couldn't blame the whole thing on the Yorozuya. It was the other man's fault for being near him when he had been vulnerable. It was the other man's fault for being so damn _considerate_ of his feelings. Thus, it had been the other man's fault that they had ended up as they had.

The reason why Hijikata had been avoiding the other man was because he was afraid he would want to _talk._

_He_ didn't want to talk!

There was nothing to talk about!

It had been a one-night stand caused by an extremely bad day. _That_ shouldn't warrant any kind of talk.

So, Hijikata kept glaring at Gintoki, who in turn kept avoiding his gaze uncomfortably, which in turn seemed to make Sougo suspicious, which in turn made Eileen puzzled by the men's odd behaviour. She kept looking at each of them, her antennae trembling nervously, "Gintoki-san, these men are-?"

"They are the bloodhounds..."

"You have some nerve to abduct the royal heiress and her visitor," Hijikata growled, looking around the table, "Where's Souyo-sama?"

"She's with Shinpachi and Kagura."

"WHAT?" Hijikata exploded, "You left her highness alone with two brats? Have you completely lost your mind?"

"Gintoki-san did not abduct us!" Eileen stood up, "We left the castle of our own free will."

"Your highness," Hijikata finally looked at the Amritan princess, "I know this must be a difficult time for you, but your honourable mother is very worried. I must ask you to return to the castle, immediately."

"Sit down," Gintoki suddenly ordered, "You're attracting too much attention."

Hijikata glared at the other patrons, who quickly turned their gazes away, and sat next to the princess. He looked at the Yorozuya, "Why do you _always_ have to stick your nose into other people's business?"

"Um, that's kinda what I'm supposed to do," he looked at Hijikata, "What's with you? You seem kinda snappier than usual."

"He's just needy," Sougo commented.

"Sougo!" Hijikata turned to Eileen, "Your highness, we _must _return you to the castle."

"Not before I find Yura," Eileen insisted.

"Your highness, I know that you're worried about your friend, but there isn't much that you can do. Our men will keep an eye out for anyone who resembles her and inform you if they find anything."

"So you _do_ know what's going on," Gintoki glared at Hijikata, "If that's the case, why aren't you people seriously looking for her? She's a _human_, she should be your responsibility."

"I told you," Eileen's antennae drooped, "My honourable mother does not think it worth the trouble to search for a missing slave, so she hasn't given an official permission to look for her."

"Something like that hasn't stopped you guys before," Gintoki pondered, "What's really going on?"

"None of your business!"

"Told you he was needy."

"Sougo!"

"None of my business, huh?" Gintoki smiled slyly, "This wouldn't happen to have something to do with certain disappearances now, would it?"

"You-! Where did-?" Hijikata glared at the younger officer, "Sougo!"

"Hey! I'm perfectly innocent. This time, at least," Sougo defended himself, "Danna must've heard it from somewhere else. Maybe he slept with an officer or something."

"Yeah, maybe I did."

"That's it!" Hijikata stood up and looked at Sougo, "Out! Now!"

"But I thought you wanted me to hang out with you, or something," Sougo said.

"Doesn't matter! Go find Souyo-sama!"

"But you said-"

"Sougo," Hijikata rubbed his temple, "She's with the Yato girl."

"Going," Sougo stood up, "See you again, danna, your highness," and he was gone.

Hijikata sighed and sat back down. At least he had gotten rid of the annoyance before he could steer the conversation on more dangerous grounds. He looked up at Gintoki and grimaced.

"Nice save," the other man grinned.

"Shut up!" _Damn! He's getting over his embarrassment..._ "We're going too, your highness."

"But Yura is still-!"

"Your highness," Hijikata didn't look at the princess, "I have been given the permission to use force to get you back to the castle. Apparently, according to your honourable mother, this isn't your first disappearing act."

Eileen tensed as she heard this. From a sideways glance, Hijikata could see her giving a desperate look to the Yorozuya. Hijikata growled silently. How the hell was the man able to gain people's trust so damn fast?

"Come on, now," Gintoki rubbed the back of his head, "Just tell her mum that she went to a pop-concert or something. Teenagers always lose their sense of time when they are flocked together like that."

"You're an idiot."

"Aww, you owe me that much."

"I owe you nothing!"

"Really?" something flashed in Gintoki's eyes, making Hijikata tense up.

_Shit, walked right into that one..._

"Let's see, who was the one that saved certain someone from a group of certain individuals some time back?" Gintoki smiled.

_Oh, you think you're so clever?_ "If I remember correctly, that certain someone already paid back with certain kind of service."

"Oh?" Gintoki looked slightly surprised that Hijikata had willingly brought that up, "So that's what it's called nowadays, eh?"

"I am _not_ going to talk about that in front of a child," Hijikata hissed. Eileen just kept looking at them, still puzzled, "Now, if you'll excuse us, we must get back to the castle."

"What's the rush?" Gintoki leaned towards him, "Now that you've found the princess, does it really matter if she's returned now or later?"

Hijikata backed away from the Yorozuya. The other man's eyes had turned dark crimson, a tell-tale sign that he was plotting something, "I don't have time to deal with you."

"Must be tough busting people around the clock. Don't you want to relax for a while?"

Hijikata looked away. Why must the idiot be so damn _close?_ "I don't need a lecture from a bum like you."

"At least I know how to enjoy life," Gintoki was actually leering now, "Want me to show you how?"

Hijikata felt himself blush, "You-!"

"Excuse me, sir. Would you like to order- WOAH!"

The poor, innocent waiter was grabbed by Gintoki and thrown towards Hijikata. Before the other man could get over his shock, he had lifted the princess on his shoulder and ran out of the café. Hijikata cursed as he tried to untangle himself from the waiter. Finally he got free and dashed after the idiot.

-x-x-x-

"Shit, shit, shit..."

"Gintoki-san?" Eileen asked worriedly while being carried by the Yorozuya, "Do you think we will be all right?"

"Don't worry, _you'll_ be perfectly fine," Gintoki panted, "Me? I just toyed with the feelings of one of the most dangerous men in the world, so I'll probably get killed. But no worries, I had a good life," he thought for a moment, "Actually, screw that. My life sucked!"

"Gintoki-san?"

"Yes?"

"He's after us."

"Shit!"

-x-x-x-

Shinpachi was only barely able to dodge to the dark alley before the Shinsengumi members ran past him, "Why are they chasing us?" he panted.

"Because they're idiots! All of them!" Kagura growled.

"I'm sorry," Souyo whispered from Sadaharu's back, "Brother must have sent them to find us. Eileen-sama's mother is very protective of her."

"What do we do now? We can't hide forever! They know us too well!" Shinpachi panicked.

"Let's just beat the crap out of them! No way am I going to lose to a bunch of tax-robbers!" Kagura was already cracking her knuckles.

"Oh? That sounds like a challenge."

Shinpachi screamed when a blade cut the air before him. Kagura jumped backwards to safety and parried the sword with her umbrella. Sadaharu started barking as his mistress was in danger and Souyo tried to hold on as the dog started to jump up and down.

"Hello, China," Sougo smiled cruelly.

"Geh! It's the prince of sadists!" Kagura tried to kick the Shinsengumi Captain, but the young man avoided it, pulling his sword back and stepping forward to try and pierce her. Again, Kagura blocked the attack, opening her umbrella to block Sougo's movements on the narrow alley and pressing the switch for the machine gun. Sougo had to jump back to block the rain of bullets with his blade.

"Now! Run!" Shinpachi took hold of Kagura's hand and ushered her and Sadaharu out of the alley. Souyo hold on to the dog's collar as they stormed through the still falling snow. Shinpachi dared a look back and saw Sougo running after them, "Why does it have to be _him!_"

"I told you! They're all idiots!" Kagura turned to shoot few more blasts at the Shinsengumi Captain. Shinpachi was glad there weren't many people outside right now.

They ran through the maze of alleys, making sharp turns and crossing a few heavy-traffic lines. Finally Shinpachi gave the sign to stop and he and Kagura panted heavily, while Sadaharu whined, still excited from the run, "I- think- we're- safe- now-," Shinpachi had to lean against a wall, "Are you- all right- your highness?"

"I am fine," Souyo assured them, "I am so sorry for causing you this much trouble."

"It's not your fault. It's those idiots!" Kagura spat, "They _always_ have to make our job difficult."

"We have to find Gin-san and Eileen-sama," Shinpachi said, "It's not good that we're this separated right now."

"But where _is_ Gin-chan?" Kagura asked.

"Don't worry. Danna and the princess are under custody already."

Again Kagura had to jump away from the blade, "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?" she shrieked.

"Fight back, China," Sougo's eyes had turned blood-red, "It's boring, if you don't."

Shinpachi scrambled backwards to get away from the two maniacs. This wasn't good. Sougo was in a full berserk-mode and Kagura's Yato blood was starting to react. He grabbed Sadaharu's collar to keep the growling dog away from the fighting pair. Souyo gasped when Sougo was able to pierce Kagura's shoulder, but she herself didn't seem to notice as she punched the boy's jaw, making him stagger. The snow under their feet was starting to turn red.

"Stop that!" Shinpachi yelled, "Kagura-chan! We don't have time for this!"

"Shinpachi!"

The boy turned to see Gintoki running towards them, carrying Eileen on his shoulder, "Gin-san!" he yelled in relief, "You have to stop those two!" Gintoki handed Eileen over to Shinpachi and jumped in the middle of the fight. He grabbed both Kagura and Sougo and smashed their heads together. Shinpachi could only stare as the two fell to the ground, unconscious, "WHAT THE HELL?"

"They stopped, didn't they?"

"Gin-san! You could've killed them!"

"Come on, Shinpachi. You know that idiots don't catch death."

"That's 'cold'!"

"Anyway," Gintoki crouched down to pick up Kagura, "We better go before-!" he rolled sideways to avoid Hijikata's blade, pulling out his bokutou.

"Yorozuya!" Hijikata growled, "You're dead!"

"No I'm not," Gintoki kicked Hijikata's feet from under him and jumped up. He blocked the man's rising slash and swirled his bokutou, creating a gust of wind. Hijikata had to cover his eyes from the snow and was only barely able to block Gintoki's surprise attack.

Shinpachi looked down when he heard a groan. Kagura was already waking up, rubbing her head with blood flowing from her nose, "What the-?" she looked up to see Gintoki fighting Hijikata and jumped to her feet, "Gin-chan!"

A blade stopped her advance and she glared at Sougo, who was wiping his own nosebleed with his sleeve, "Now now, let mum and dad talk."

"DIE!" she round-kicked Sougo's hand, but wasn't able to force him to drop the sword. The boy growled and tried to strike her with a downward-slash, but she avoided it by somersaulting backwards. Soon they were battling just as heatedly as the two older men.

"Eileen-sama!" Shinpachi turned around to see Souyo supporting the Amritan princess. Her skin was turning greenish and she was shivering uncontrollably.

"Stop it!" Shinpachi yelled desperately, "Something's wrong with her highness! Gin-san! Kagura-chan!"

But the four were too engrossed with their battle to notice anything. Shinpachi felt his anger rising. What the hell was with these people? How could they get so distracted by each other that they completely forgot about everything else? Shinpachi closed his eyes. He concentrated. Tried to summon his sister's fighting aura...

"JUST FUCKING STOP THAT!"

It wasn't like Shinpachi hadn't raised his voice before, but hearing him actually swear was so shocking that everything just stopped. The four brawlers just stared at him, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. Shinpachi tried not to get distracted by the sudden authority, and instead looked at each of them sternly, like a mother who was about to scold her children.

"Are you guys really so engrossed with your petty rivalry that you can't see her highness's suffering?" he pointed at Eileen who looked up weakly, "Besides, acting like that in front of foreign royalty. You're an embarrassment to your princess!" this one was meant for Hijikata and Sougo, who grimaced as they realised what they had done, "And even forgetting your promise to a friend," Gintoki and Kagura looked ashamed.

"Sorry," they all muttered in unison.

"Hijikata-san, Okita-san, I know that you need to get the princesses back as soon as possible, but can't you at least _try_ to listen to their story?"

"I suppose," Hijikata muttered.

"And Gin-san," Shinpachi turned towards his companions, "You and Kagura-chan act too rashly. Even if you guys have your differences, you should be able to put them aside for greater good."

"They started it," Kagura mumbled.

"Kagura-chan."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Good. Now that everyone's calmed down, let's go home so that her highness can rest," he looked at the Shinsengumi duo, "You come, too. We may be able to swap some information."

Shinpachi helped Eileen and Souyo on Sadaharu's back and started walking towards the Yorozuya. After glancing at each other, the quartet followed them.

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** So how was the fight-scene this time? Too much? Oh, and don't worry if Hijikata's thoughts seemed odd, it's supposed to be that way. I mean, he had sex with the guy he's supposed to hate, that'll drive anyone nuts.

Keep sending me requests. I already know how this story will end, but they help me to fill in the plot-holes.


	5. Explaining the Plot

**Author's notes:** I decided to completely rewrite this chapter because it just seemed/felt off. Especially Kagura, I mostly decided to do it because of her. She was just too OOC in my opinion...

I'm also using (trying to use) British English instead of that weird mix of American and British I usually wrote with (no offence to Americans, but most departments use British English so I need to practice). I've also changed the previous chapters into British English, corrected some typos and rephrased some sentences better (nothing major changes, though).

For those of you who don't know the layout of the Yorozuya; When you come in, Kagura's closet is on the right side of the foyer hall, on the left is an entrance way to a small kitchen from where there's a door to the toilet and bath. When you walk straight from the foyer hall, you come to the main living room, where there's a table, two sofas, a TV in the corner and Gin-san's desk. Again, on the left side behind one of the sofa's, there's a door to a Japanese-style room that's Gin-san's bedroom. In that room, there's also a small veranda. You can find the layout in the fourth Gintama volume.

**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit fanfiction. Gintama belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 5 – Explaining the Plot Makes Jack a Dull Boy**

"What the hell happened here?" Gintoki and Kagura stared at the entrance of the Yorozuya in horror. The door was completely destroyed and the foyer hall was covered in snow.

"Aww, it's not so bad, right?" Sougo commented, stepping over the door-frame and into the now cold apartment, "See? The snow hasn't melted, so there's no water damage," he tried to open the closet door and was immediately kicked to the head.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Kagura screeched.

"Enough, you two!" Shinpachi's still authoritative voice made the two halt before they could smash each other's faces, "We need to do something about her highness first! You can kill each other for all I care, but _later,_ okay? Kagura-chan, you and Souyo-sama take some towels and dip them into hot water. The pipes might be frozen so it may take some time for the water to heat up. Put the kettle on while you're at it."

Kagura gave both Shinpachi and Sougo a glare before taking Souyo's hand and leading her off. Shinpachi sighed in relief. It would be best to take advantage of his power over these people as long as it lasted, "Okita-san, could you help me carry her highness inside?"

"I guess I could."

"Gin-san, we'll put her in your room, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Gintoki muttered off-handedly while trying to see if he could salvage the door. Unfortunately it had snapped in two and had to be completely replaced. He looked up at the man still standing outside the apartment, "Care to explain what kind of grudge prompted you to attack my doorway?"

"What makes you think I had anything to do with this?"

"Who else? You guys were obviously looking for us, and the only other member in your team more extreme is that brat, and he would've probably destroyed the whole house!" Gintoki threw the door fragments away and stomped into the apartment. When he couldn't hear the other man following him, he turned around, "What are you doing?"

"What?" Hijikata blinked his eyes in the rapidly falling snow.

"Get inside already."

It felt weird to _ask_ the other man to enter his home when the Vice-Commander would usually just march in as he pleased. Even Hijikata seemed to realise this out-of-character behaviour, since he suddenly jerked and brushed past Gintoki, keeping his gaze on the floor.

Gintoki scratched his head in frustration. He had no idea what to make of this. They weren't exactly pretending that nothing had happened, but they also weren't talking about it. If that time was supposed to be a one night thing, then why was Hijikata suddenly acting so self-conscious? And why was _Gintoki_ the one feeling guilty when Hijikata had been the one to invite _him?_

Well, not that Gintoki had tried too hard to stop things from developing, either. And he could have, considering how he was used to halting people's sexual advances.

How the hell had they ended up like that, anyway? He guessed that Hijikata had been emotionally messed up at the time, but what had prompted _him_ to go along with the guy's request? He was pretty sure it wasn't normal to have sex with people you were supposed to hate just because they asked for it. And why had Hijikata asked _him,_ anyway?

"Gin-chan! We got the towels!" Kagura's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Gintoki felt a bit disoriented and could only stare at the two girls standing before him.

"Well then take them to Shinpachi. What do you think _I'm_ supposed to do with them?"

Kagura looked up at him, frowning, "Why are you standing in the cold like that?"

"I was just about to go inside," Gintoki snapped and turned around. He imagined Kagura sticking her tongue out at him before she and Souyo ran past him. He didn't have time to be thinking about unimportant things. He had a job to do, a missing girl to find, and he was going to get some information, even if he had to bash that damned Vice-Commander's head in to get it.

-x-x-x-

"It's not unusual for out-of-city folks to get lost here," Hijikata explained once they had all settled down. Souyo was looking after Eileen in the bedroom and Kagura was sitting by the door in case she was needed, since it was considered inappropriate for the men to enter the room when the princess was looking less than presentable. Hijikata stared at his tea cup before sipping at it tentatively, "Cases like that are usually handled by the local police. The Shinsengumi only gets involved if there are signs of Joui or other terrorism activity, or if we're asked to assist in the investigation."

"Well, not that that happens often," Sougo interrupted, "The police are pretty competitive. Most divisions don't like others sharing their cases and grab the honour, nor do they like it when other divisions butt in on their investigations. We Shinsengumi are especially hated among our colleagues, so we practically carry out all our investigations independently."

"But you guys were looking for those missing women that time when Otsuu-chan acted as your Commander of the Day, right?" Shinpachi wondered, "Shouldn't that normally be something for the Missing Persons Unit to do?"

"In cases of serial abductions or murders we have authority to take over the investigation," Hijikata clarified, "Also, that time all the women disappearing were from our jurisdiction, so we figured it might be some kind of an attack against the Shinsengumi instead of being just random abductions."

"What about this Yura, then?" Gintoki asked, propping his legs on his desk and looking at the Vice-Commander, "You obviously know about her disappearance, you let on that much yourself, so what are you going to do?"

Hijikata kept staring at his tea cup, "We have been assigned to ensure her majesty and her party's safety during their stay in Edo, so obviously we know about the girl. Her highness and Souyo-sama made enough of a scene about it, so I don't think there's anyone in the castle who doesn't know. The shogun offered to arrange search-parties, but since her majesty declined the offer, we haven't been officially deployed."

"So what? You guys are just going to sit on your asses when there's a kid out there probably freezing to death?" Kagura asked from her place on the floor.

Sougo turned to give her a bored look, "Well, what we heard from her majesty, that girl and her highness have a habit of sneaking out whenever they can. Ever thought that she might have just gotten lost? She'll turn up eventually, if she wants to."

"If she wants to?"

"The brat's a slave, right?" Sougo sighed, "You guys must've thought it, too. That she just decided to run away now that she's finally back on her home planet."

"But Eileen's really worried!" Kagura protested, "She could've at least left a note or something."

"In fact, if she really decided to run away, you guys should definitely be looking for her," Gintoki mused, "I find it somewhat hard to believe that that gorilla of yours wouldn't be sucked in by a story like that, ordering you guys to hide the girl until the Amritans have left and then sending her off somewhere."

"Is that what's going on?" Shinpachi asked, "You guys are just covering for Yura-san?"

"Nah, I don't think they have any better idea of where the girl is than we do," Gintoki kept his gaze on Hijikata, but the man was still refusing to look at him.

"I don't care what kind of conspiracy theories you people come up with," Hijikata growled, "The fact is that since the Shinsengumi hasn't received an official request from her majesty or the shogun, we can't waste our time on one lost little girl."

"So what are you guys doing then?" Gintoki asked, "Let's forget about Yura for a moment, what is it that the Shinsengumi is spending their time on?"

"The Shinsengumi's official matters and current investigations are confidential and can not be discussed nor shared with civilians or personnels currently not involved with the said investigations," the Vice-Commander ground out his obviously rehearsed speech.

"Come on! We're already involved!" Gintoki straightened and glared at the other man. This was getting irritating. Hijikata avoiding his gaze and putting up some kind of a professional front wasn't how he was used to dealing with the man. Usually they'd me more in each other's faces by now, "We've been hired to find a missing person while the police is performing some sort of a secret investigation involving missing people! The girl we're looking for belonged to an Amanto princess' party and the disappearances have something to do with the Amanto! Normally at this point I would think that all this was just some huge coincidence, but the fact that the Shinsegumi of all people are actually trying to keep everything concealed and under the wraps is just too damn suspicious! You guys are about as subtle as a brick to the face!"

"More people are going missing?" Shinpachi asked.

"That's what Hasegawa said," Gintoki settled back into his chair, "He also mentioned the fact that it has something to do with the Amanto or something."

Hijikata was still staring at his tea cup.

"Tetsuko-san told us that a girl living near her workshop disappeared about a week ago," Shinpachi looked at the Shinsengumi officers, "What do you think this could mean?"

"A coincidence," Hijikata muttered.

"When five girls go missing at the same time, it sounds more than a coincidence."

Tetsuko jumped a little when all eyes in the room turned towards her. She fidgeted with the sleeve of her hanten-coat, melting snow falling from her hair and shoulders, "I apologise for barging in like this, but there was no door."

"We know," Gintoki glared at Hijikata. Shinpachi hurried to pour more tea while Tetsuko sat on the couch. She eyed the two officers nervously.

"I asked around," Tetsuko turned to look at Gintoki, obviously trying to avoid the glare that Hijikata was giving her, "Besides the grocery store owner's daughter, four more girls have gone missing during the last couple of weeks."

"Have they contacted the police?" Shinpachi asked while handing Tetsuko her tea.

"Yes, but one of the girls is an orphan and other one's father..." she glanced at the two officers, "He... um... has problems with the authority, so he needs to lie low."

"What did the police say?" Shinpachi inquired.

"That it was just a case of kids running away from home. That they'd be back once they had calmed down," Tetsuko swirled the tea around in her cup, "The police was still going to put out a search party and inform the parents once they found something, but some days ago, when one of the mothers went to ask if they had come up with anything, she was told that the local police station wasn't in charge of the investigation any more," she looked at the two officers, "Apparently it was taken over by the Shinsengumi."

Everyone was looking at Hijikata now. The Vice-Commander was glaring at Tetsuko, who tried to glare back for being treated like this when she was just a messenger. Gintoki decided to jump in before Tetsuko snapped and tried to throw something at the guy.

"Now that's interesting, isn't it?" he apparently caught Hijikata off-guard, since the blue gaze switched from Tetsuko to him momentarily before turning away again, "Weren't you just saying that missing people were outside your jurisdiction? That the Shinsengumi would only get involved if it was a special case?"

Hijikata's shoulders tensed and his eye twitched.

"And why are you keeping the investigation a secret?" Tetsuko questioned, "The parents told me that when they tried to enquire what was going on, you guys quite frankly chased them away! They're really worried about their children, and you guys are just feeding their paranoia with your attitude!"

"We are doing what we can to catch the ones behind these incidents," Hijikata growled.

"HOW?" Tetsuko accused, "As far as these parents are concerned, you guys are doing jack! You haven't given them any information of what the hell's going on, nor have you publicly acknowledged that there's some _creep_ out there kidnapping little girls!"

"We can't just go around announcing that we know what these guys are doing and chase them back into hiding!" Hijikata finally snapped, "There's too much work put into this investigation, and we-!"

"So who are 'these guys'?" Gintoki interrupted. He could see Hijikata cursing himself for the slip of the tongue.

"It's none of your business."

"It's too late to try to play it off like that," he leaned on his hand and looked at the Vice-Commander sternly, "You better start being a bit more forthcoming with this, or we're forced to make our own conclusions and start causing problems."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with," Hijikata growled.

"Then enlighten us, please," Gintoki caught the sideways glance the other man gave him. He was getting really annoyed at dancing around the subject like this. Both at the situation at hand and the fact that the Vice-Commander was _still refusing to properly look at him!_

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag, Hijikata-san," Sougo's voice broke through the heavy atmosphere, "Since they're already involved and know this much, we might as well tell them the rest."

"You can't be serious!" Hijikata glared at the younger officer who just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hey, you know as well as I do that all our leads have been dead-ends. I don't know about you, Hijikata-san, but I'm starting to get really annoyed by this case. I just want to wrap it up quickly and be assigned back to Joui duty."

For a moment Hijikata seemed to stare at nothing in particular, grinding his teeth and looking about ready to kill someone. Then, probably realising the odds were against him, his shoulders dropped and he sighed audibly. He muttered something to himself before finally beginning.

"Two years ago the future empress of the Calliope star-system went missing," Hijikata ignored the confused looks on everyone's faces and continued, "The emperor was afraid of a possible conflict over success and ordered that the incident be kept from everyone except those closest to the royal family. Calliope's Commissioner General organised a special unit for the investigation, one that would only answer to her directly. Basically the only ones to know about what was going on were the royal family and the few people involved with the special unit.

"The abduction, as it later turned out to be, was uncovered surprisingly quickly. Her highness was found on one of the industrial colonies under Calliope's rule, and she was mostly unharmed. What they found with her, however, was about a dozen or so other girls, mostly from the space colonies or the neighbouring planets. They also found some shipping catalogues and auction slips. After a more through-out investigation the unit discovered that there were several other similar hideouts on other colonies. Some of them were empty, but others also had groups of young girls that were kept in captivity. In the final count they had found thirty-nine girls from ages six to thirteen, some who were originally from the neighbouring planets."

"So what did they do to those girls?" Shinpachi asked, "Were they sold to slavery or something?"

"If they were that lucky."

"Huh?"

"On most of the girls they found evidence of abuse," Sougo informed him.

"You don't mean..." Tetsuko gasped.

"There were also videos and photographs that were apparently used as a side in-come. The main operation seemed to be the actual selling of the girls themselves," Hijikata clarified.

Tetsuko muttered something to herself and Shinpachi looked tense. Gintoki thought that he heard a noise coming from his room, but his attention was drawn back to the Vice-Commander as Hijikata continued his story.

"The Commissioner General and her unit deduced that what they had actually stumbled upon was some sort of an underground child-trafficking operation. They usually target humanoid girls from age six to fifteen, but there's not really any other criteria for their 'merchandise'."

"Well, apparently rarer breeds fetch higher prices," Sougo added.

"Usually the girls are orphans or street children, though sometimes they're also taken from families that are either too poor to afford the police investigations, or, like your friend," Hijikata looked at Tetsuko, "are somehow unable to cooperate with the police. Some parents might have even sold their children to them, who knows."

"But wait, that doesn't make any sense. If they were only after 'unwanted' girls and the like, then why did they take the emperor's daughter?" Shinpachi asked, "Even an idiot would realise that someone like that disappearing would cause a huge uproar."

"Humanoid-trafficking is a really risky business," Sougo explained, "Especially when it stretches from planet to planet like this one. There's no point in doing it unless there's good profit to gain. Naturally the prices are high if you want to actually _own_ someone, especially on sectors that have banned all forms of slavery. There's a ton of money running in this business, and that means there are people _with_ those tons of money that are actually involved with it."

"And people with lots of money..." Tetsuko began.

"Means people in high places, people with the means to control the police and their investigations," Gintoki finished for her.

"Just knowing who your customers are gives you great power over them," Hijikata continued, "You can easily blackmail them into doing what you want simply by threatening to reveal their hobbies to the public. The internal investigation in Calliope revealed that a member of the royal family was actually involved with the child-trafficking taking place in Calliope's sector. The emperor's brother, who was also in charge of the space terminals and most of the trading companies in the capital, had been working with these operators for years."

"The guy had apparently gotten this idea of advancing the throne by getting rid of his niece," Sougo added, "He probably thought that she would be sold somewhere too far to find, but had either underestimated the special unit's abilities, or overestimated the operators' skills. Not only was his plot discovered, but he also helped to unearth an operation that had been working secretly for years."

"So what does all that have to do with what's happening here on Earth?" Shinpachi asked.

"Spanning from planet to planet, like we said. It means that that this child-trafficking is taking place on different galaxies, but it also looks like there's one certain group of operators that actually run the show," Sougo explained, "Calliope's emperor is very adamant on finding the mastermind behind all this, so he and the Commissioner General made her special unit more intergalactic in order to capture the one on the top of the food-chain. They've been organising and working with other units in other sectors, but everything has been kept low-profile so that the operators don't get scared and start hiding behind their funders and supporters."

"So that's what's going on," Shinpachi realised, "You guys are also involved in this special investigation, right?"

"Since we're an Anti-Terrorism Unit usually assigned on protecting the Amanto, we've also had to cooperate with intergalactic organisations every now and then," Sougo sighed, "About a month ago we got our hands on this crazy lady who was running a sort of a gang-bang/snuff video business here in Edo. Apparently she had gotten on the yakuza's bad side and wanted protection in exchange of all that she knew about the criminal operations taking place in Edo. In fer confession she also mentioned meeting some representatives of a group that had been interested in hiring her. They had shown her around one of their warehouses and even invited her to witness one of their auctions. According to her the 'items' had been pre-teen girls.

"We were about to hand the case to the local police, but then the Commissioner General contacted old man Matsudaira and had Shinsengumi drafted in on this investigation," Sougo clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Because Earth is such a special place she thinks that the centre of the operations could very well be here."

"Huh? What do you mean 'special'?" Kagura piped up suddenly, having inched closer in order to hear better.

"Since the Amanto that conquered Earth didn't belong to any federations or alliances at the time, Earth is not under any universal laws," Hijikata explained to her, "Still, most Amanto are seen as conquerors and have diplomatic immunity, meaning that they can operate outside human laws. In cosmic view Earth is like a no-man's land or the international waters. Many Amanto criminal organisations base their operations here where they know they can't be prosecuted."

"Then how are you going to arrest these guys if you can't even touch them?" Kagura asked.

"We still have authority over humans, right?" Sougo pointed out. Kagura gave him a glare, most likely thinking she was being treated like an idiot, "If we happen to arrest some guy who just so happens to be working for some intergalactic pirates or something, there's nothing stopping us from sharing our information with the Intergalactic Police. Sometimes they might be able to use the information to shut down operations on other planets or to use it as evidence in court."

"So what have you guys actually come up with?" Shinpachi asked.

"Nothing," Sougo shrugged, ignoring the look Hijikata was giving him, "It's hard for us to conduct proper investigation in cases like this. Since we can't let the operators know that they've been discovered, we can't just go around shaking people for information. On top of that, the target group is young girls, so we can't even have someone act as a decoy in order to get our hands on someone who might be part of the operations."

"Why not ask a civilian to help you?" Tetsuko asked.

"I suggested that, but Kondou-san is very adamant about not endangering the civilians, especially minors," Sougo leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling, "We sent Yamazaki to try and infiltrate the group, but haven't heard of him since."

"There you have it," Hijikata grunted, "Since there hasn't been any trace of her highness's friend, it could be safe to assume that she's become one of the victims of the child-trafficking. She might still be in Edo, but it's just as likely that she's been already sold off somewhere. The same with the rest of the girls who've disappeared lately," Hijikata looked at Tetsuko, "We can't really go telling parents that their daughters _might_ be used as playthings by rich collectors with twisted obsessions."

Tetsuko lowered her gaze and the room fell silent. Kagura inched towards Gintoki's desk and looked up at him anxiously. Even Shinpachi was looking desperate.

"Gin-san, what do we do? We really need to find Yura-san and those other girls before something happens to them."

Gintoki leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He had known that this job would get more complicated than just finding a lost little girl, but even he hadn't thought that it could get this serious. Even if Yura was still on Earth, she could be sold and shipped off at any minute, or maybe even used for some 'entertainment'. In any case, once she was off the planet, it would become nearly impossible to locate her again.

But what could they do? These guys were being careful, probably even more so after their operations in Calliope were busted, so the only way to find them would be by luring them out. The only question was how to do that.

Gintoki looked at Kagura, leaning against his desk and picking at the splintering wood with her nails, a frown scrunching her forehead in thought. Gintoki's face turned grim as a plan started to form in the back of his mind. He didn't like what he was about to say at all.

"We need a bait," Gintoki finally sighed, "Put a tracking device on a girl, have her get captured by these operators and then follow her to where ever she's taken to. Hopefully, if we find one of their hideouts, we can somehow get information about the rest."

"Idiot. Where do you think you'd find someone willing to endanger their daughter like that?" Hijikata muttered, "Besides, even if you asked one of the street children, how would you be able to ensure their safety? The tracking device could break or be discovered, or the girl might start panicking and endanger herself."

"He's right, Gin-san," Shinpachi agreed, "It's far too risky for any normal kid to..." he trailed off as his eyes turned to stare at the girl sitting on the floor, fingers now pulling long fibres of wood off the desk.

Gintoki leaned forward, placing his face into his palms as he could sense the realisation hit everyone in the room.

"NO WAY!" Shinpachi, Hijikata and Tetsuko shouted in unison as they jumped up.

"Gin-san! You can't possibly be thinking about using Kagura-chan as a bait!"

"I never thought you'd be as irresponsible as to endanger your own kid like that!"

"Sakata-san, I want you to save the girls too, but this...!"

"SHUT UP!" Gintoki glared at all three of them, "I know, okay? I know damn well that this is a hell of a lot different than having her just bait some punks who like to beat people up, but what choice do we have? Every moment we waste here could get those girls closer to shipping them off the planet, and then what? We have a girl here who's of the proper age and can still beat the shit out of ninety-percent of Earth's male population! At least it would be far less risky than using a human girl."

"I can do it!" Kagura jumped up, "Shinpachi, I can do it! I can take care of myself!"

"What makes you guys think that anyone would even want to pick up a violent brat like her?" Sougo pointed out.

Kagura picked a random object off the desk and threw it at the young Captain, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BRAT?"

Sougo simply evaded the object while giving everyone the 'what did I tell you'-look.

"Well, it's true that Kagura-chan can overpower basically anyone if she wants to," Shinpachi muttered, deep in thought, "And I don't think we have any other plans?" he looked at Gintoki and then at Tetsuko, who just sighed submissively, "Looks like Kagura-chan's our best bet at the moment."

Gintoki nodded and looked up, only to find Hijikata leaning over his desk, blue-eyes blazing with rage.

"Do you seriously think we would allow this?" the Vice-Commander growled.

"It doesn't matter whether you allow it or not. The fact is that we're private operators and can do what the hell we want," Gintoki growled back. He didn't like this any more than the other man did, but sometimes you had to choose the lesser of two evils.

The Vice-Commander slammed his palms on the table, leaning closer "I could have you thrown in jail for neglecting your duties as a guardian."

"You could," Gintoki acknowledged, "But then you would lose the only chance you have in finding these guys and putting them away for good. You can either cooperate or stay the hell out of our way and let us do our job."

Hijikata's eyes blazed and Gintoki had to suppress the feeling rising in his chest. At least the Vice-Commander was finally looking at him.

"Besides," he continued, "It's not for you to decide whether we execute this plan or not. It's up to our customer and her wishes," Gintoki turned to look at the bedroom door, "That's the situation and this is our plan. How do you want us to operate, you highness?"

Everyone turned to look at the bedroom door where a still green-faced Eileen was peeking out, Souyo trying to desperately cover her tussled looks. Hijikata's face turned grim when he saw the two girls and he gave Gintoki one more accusing look before straightening up.

"Your highness..." Hijikata tried, but Eileen was staring at Gintoki, eyes blinking slowly.

"It could place her highness in danger," she acknowledged, referring to Kagura.

"It could also save your friend's life."

Eileen looked at Kagura who smiled encouragingly.

"I'm okay with it," the Yato girl assured her.

"I'm sorry, your highness," Eileen started blinking more rapidly and Souyo wrapped her arms around her, trying to pull her back into the bedroom, "Please, do anything you can to help Yura," Eileen gasped. Souyo gave them a pleading look of her own before gently sliding the door closed.

Gintoki straightened and looked at the still glaring Hijikata, "I guess that settles that. Are you guys in or out?"

The Vice-Commander's eye twitched and he looked ready to kill someone, "I'll have to talk to Kondou-san," he finally gritted out, "For now it's more important to get her highness back to the castle."

"Fair enough," Gintoki nodded. He let his gaze sweep across the room, noting the heavy atmosphere there, "So, who's up for a trip to the Imperial Palace?"

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** So how was the new 'improved' version of the fifth chapter? I decided to have Tetsuko join the team temporarily in order to pass most of Kagura's lines to her. As an adult they suited her far better than Kagura. I had also completely forgotten that Hijikata had destroyed the Yorozuya's door, so I had that added as well (yeah, I should seriously read the previous chapters more often).

I also decided to drop the 'hime' and use the 'princess' instead. Nowadays I don't like using Japanese when I'm writing in English since that just sounds stupid (honorifics are an exception, since they don't really have English counterparts, not with the exact same meaning anyway). Besides, after reading through some old Gintama volumes I realised that the Shinsengumi call Souyo '-sama' instead of '-hime' (unless they're just talking about 'the princess'). Also, whenever the people are saying 'her highness' in this story they're referring to one of the girls whereas 'her majesty' refers to Eileen's mother.

I also decided to try and be more subtle about the child porn. Why did I even pick child porn? It's so hard to write into Gintama since you can't have the characters joke about it or anything. I mean, it's _child porn!_ It's horrible! I was just inspired by that one episode of that Austrian show "Kommissar Rex" called "Stumme Schreie" (Silent Scream or something, second season episode) which was about child porn. Also, I really liked that story in "Outsiders 2: Wanted" which was about child-trafficking and abuse.


	6. If You Can Do It Once

**IMPORTANT NOTICE! PLEASE READ!** As of 24.2.2012 the fifth chapter has been completely rewritten. I suggest that you go back and read it again before moving forward. NOW!

Okay, I'm just going to assume that you've read the previous chapter.

**Author's notes:** So, yeah, sorry that it's been so long, but there's been some stuff and I haven't been able to update. Whenever something like this happens, you don't have to worry that I'm dropping the story or something. I'm planning to finish all my stories, but it just takes some time for me to write them.

little101: Neither Kamui nor Takasugi is going to appear in this story, since I doubt they'd be involved with something like this. They're evil, but they're not that evil.

GinHiji: This chapter is for you. Hope you'll like it!

**Disclaimer:** This is a non-profit fanfiction. Gintama belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

-x-x-x-

**Chapter 6 – If You Can Do It Once, You Can Do It Twice (Probably)**

Hijikata took a long drag from his cigarette and slowly blew the smoke out through the slightly ajar window. Listening to the on-going squabble he could feel his temple starting to throb with the coming migraine. Princess Souyo had kindly arranged one of the guest rooms for their meeting, while she and princess Eileen were trying to somehow explain their little stunt to the shogun and her majesty.

Taking one more drag before throwing the cigarette butt out and closing the window, Hijikata turned around to face the chaos. He had known that Kondou wouldn't agree with the Yorozuya's plan, even if the bait they were going to use was a Yato. Their Commander might have some weird quirks when it came to that Shimura woman, but normally he was a man with high morals and strict set of rules.

It didn't matter that the girl was able to lift a grown man with one arm, as she was currently demonstrating, she was still a civilian and a minor. Hijikata knew that Kondou could never forgive himself if something were to happen to the girl.

"Kagura-chan, that's enough," Shinpachi finally stepped out to stop his friend, who just huffed and let go of the Shinsengumi Commander, dropping the man unceremoniously to the floor, "Kondou-san, we don't want to go through with this plan either, but it's currently those girls' only hope," Shinpachi tried to explain, "If you guys could let us borrow some sort of a tracking device and maybe some communicators, we could lead you to that group's possible hideout. We're going to need some sort of police support anyway, so we might as well work together."

"I'm sorry, Shinpachi-kun, but it's the Shinsengumi's duty to ensure the safety of civilians. We can't just allow one to endanger themselves like this," Kondou apologised, "If the higher-ups heard that we knowingly sent a child to a den of perverts, our heads would roll."

"And while you're trying to protect one girl's virtue, dozens of others will be sold off-world or to the local dealers, not to mention all those girls they're robbing off the streets as we speak," Gintoki stated, "At least Kagura can fend off most people that try to come after her. She's also of the right age, and with some make-up and right clothes we can probably make her look decent."

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Kagura growled while punching her guardian to the gut. Gintoki fell next to Kondou, holding his stomach in pain.

Kondou stood and gave Hijikata an uncertain look, "What do you think, Toshi?"

"I think it's a moronic plan."

"Excuse me?" Gintoki growled.

"Think about it, you idiot," Hijikata crossed his arms, pointedly not looking at the Yorozuya still crouching on the ground, "What makes you think that this girl would be picked out of all the others in Edo? These guys most likely follow their targets around for weeks to make sure taking them won't cause any problems. We can't even pinpoint their centre of operations, so where would you even start? Besides, you'd have to be as stupid as Sougo to pick a fight with a girl from the Yato clan."

"That one kinda stung, Hijikata-san."

"But at first glance you can't really tell a Yato apart from a human," Shinpachi pointed out, "Kagura-chan only has to control herself a bit and she would look like a normal girl."

"What do you mean 'a normal girl'?" Kagura growled.

"Maybe so, but your girl has been running all over the city destroying buildings left and right. A _blind_ man would know that she's a Yato," Hijikata informed him. _Not to mention that she's from the infamous 'den of monsters',_ he dared a quick glance at the silver-haired man finally picking himself up from the floor. The man might be an idiot, but even the Shinsengumi had heard the rumours circulating around the city. Hijikata was sure that the kidnappers wouldn't knowingly dare to incur the wrath of the demon dwelling in Kabukichou.

"Well, maybe we can just disguise her," Shinpachi pondered, "But the biggest problem is where we should start. You guys really have no clues as to where we might most likely run into these people?"

"Not really. The ones working on the street are professionals and know how to blend into the crowd," Kondou told him, "Since the dealers themselves are so hard to find, we've been trying to come up with possible buyers or others who would support their operations."

Hijikata sighed and rubbed his throbbing temple. Both Kondou and Sougo were far too ready to share information with these guys.

"So, do you guys suspect anyone who might be involved with this business?" the Yorozuya asked.

"Kobuta Bakerou," Sougo began, and Hijikata rolled his eyes. Confidential information was just flying out the window today, it seemed, "He's one of the biggest transport tycoons in Edo, not to mention he has been apprehended before for owning a dubious collection of AVs. The charges were dropped, though, since no one was willing to testify against him. He has both money and power, so he would be an ideal funder."

"Well, why don't you just go to this guy's place and punch him a couple of times to get him to talk?" Kagura asked.

"Because there's this little thing called the _law,_" Sougo taunted her, "He refuses to have an audience with us, and he won't let us take a look around his companies or private estates without a search warrant, which the judge refuses to give us."

"If Zaki wasn't on a mission, we could've have him infiltrate Kobuta's company," Kondou sighed, "Unfortunately we thought of that _after_ Zaki had left and now we can't contact him any more."

"Man, you guys are stupid," Kagura scoffed.

"You're stupid," Sougo retorted off-handedly.

"That's it, Gin-san!" Shinpachi exclaimed, stopping Kagura and Sougo before they could start another fight, "Why don't we just have that guy get interested in Kagura-chan and have those guys come and kidnap her?"

"And why would he be interested in your girl?" Hijikata pointed out.

"Well, you said that these guys are interested in rare humanoid breeds," Shinpachi reminded him, "The Yato are almost extinct and I don't recall ever hearing of another Yato girl besides Kagura-chan. I'm sure there's someone who'd be willing to pay a lot of money for her. If Kobuta has anything to do with the humanoid-traffickers, he'll surely tell them about having seen a Yato girl in town."

"Again with this Yato crap!" Hijikata groaned, ignoring Kagura's glare, "I keep telling you, no one but Sougo is stupid enough to pick a fight with a Yato!"

"Okay, you're starting to piss me off, Hijikata-san."

"But Kagura-chan's just a child," Shinpachi pointed out, "They might assume that she isn't as powerful as a full grown Yato."

"All right then, suppose that Kobuta really _is_ that stupid," Hijikata sighed, "And then what? How exactly are you going to make her catch his eye? Just doll her up and make her prance in front of him?"

"Well, why not?" Gintoki asked.

Hijikata felt like hitting his head against something hard, "First of all," he began slowly, "Kobuta doesn't socialise with commoners. He moves around the town in a _limousine,_ so it's very unlikely that he would just happen to get a glimpse of your girl. Not to mention that all his buildings are heavily guarded, so you can't even enter his enterprises or private estates."

"Yeah, but if he knows there's a Yato-," Shinpachi began.

"And how are you going to let him know that, huh? Like I just said, there's no way you people can get anywhere near him, so how would you let him know there's a Yato in this city?"

"Maybe I could be of assistance," a soft voice spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at Souyo who had just entered the room, escorted by the Shinsengumi Captains Harada and Inoue. Hijikata, Kondou and even Sougo stood at attention, but Yorozuya and his brats kinda greeted her off-handedly.

"How's her highness doing?" Shinpachi inquired.

"She's much better, but her majesty is keeping her under lock and key, so she won't be able to join us," Souyo informed them, then turned to look at Gintoki, "If you need help with Kobuta-dono, there's a royal gala being held in honour of her majesty's visit tomorrow night. We could always introduce her highness to him there as a Yato aristocrat."

"Wow! You can really do that, Souyo?" Kagura asked excitedly.

The princess nodded, smiling, "I'll just tell my brother that I want to invite a lady whom I met at a poetry reading. It shouldn't be harder than that," she looked at Kagura, a bit uncertain, "But, would it be too insulting for your highness to lower yourself to a status like that?"

"That won't be a problem," Gintoki assured her, turning to Hijikata, "Well, that got solved surprisingly easily," he smirked, "Unless you have some other problems to point out, I'd say that we have a perfect plan."

Hijikata felt his eye twitch as he gave the man a glare. The idiot's smirk faded.

"What? Seriously?"

"Why would they go after an aristocrat, who will obviously be missed and most likely get a bunch of bloodthirsty _full-grown_ Yato after them?" Hijikata pointed out.

"He's right, Gin-san," Shinpachi agreed, but Souyo just smiled confidently.

"Don't worry, we'll just make her a fallen aristocrat."

"'Fallen'?" Kagura wondered.

"It's when an aristocratic family has lost all their inherited fortune," Shinpachi explained.

"You see it a lot these days now that the industry and free-trade are booming," Kondou added, "They spend all their money on their extravagant lifestyle, but don't really have any income. Soon they're either forced to give up that life, or find themselves neck-deep in debt."

"It's perfect, Gin-san," Shinpachi looked at the older man, "If an aristocrat like that went missing, everyone would just assume they were running from the debt-collectors."

"Great idea, Souyo!" Kagura cheered, giving the princess a bone-shattering hug.

Hijikata gave them all a look.

"Goddammit, you're pissing me off!" Gintoki snapped, "What _now?_"

"Who would believe that _a 13-year old aristocrat_ would be alone on an unknown planet, in a royal gala, _without an escort?_" Hijikata pointed out. He was getting _really_ tired of always having to be the voice of reason in these situations, "Even if you went with a story that she's the only living member of her family or something, she would have a guardian or a treasurer with her. Someone who would take care of her and her fortune until she comes of age."

Everyone looked at Souyo, but she looked just as lost as they did, "I... I'm sorry. I didn't think of that..." then she looked up at Kagura, "Ah, but couldn't one of your retainers disguise themselves as your guardian, your highness?"

"Gin-chan?"

"Wouldn't work. We need to make it seem as though you're really easy to capture. A male escort would probably make it seem too risky."

"What about a female escort?" Shinpachi offered.

"And where are you going to find one on such a short notice?" Hijikata asked, "The girl is still young, so she could be forgiven for not knowing how to behave properly in a royal gala, but an adult is expected to know the etiquette. You wouldn't have time to train her properly before tomorrow night."

"Maybe we could ask Otae-san to-."

"NO!" everyone protested before Kondou could finish his sentence.

"You guys don't have any officers who could help?" Shinpachi asked.

"The Shinsengumi doesn't have any female officers," Sougo told him, "But I don't see why it needs to be a woman. Let's just put some dude in drag and be done with it."

"But Zaki's on a mission and we don't have anyone else who could make a believable woman."

"Why are you guys willing to go along with this nonsense?" Hijikata muttered. It was almost scary how much influence the Yorozuya trio had on the Shinsengumi. He dared another glance at the silver-haired bastard and to his surprise noticed the man looking at him. There was something in the guy's eyes that sent a shiver down his spine, and Hijikata gritted his teeth when he realised what the idiot was plotting.

_No way..._

"Yorozuya?" Kondou queried as he saw the look on the man's face.

"How about the Demon Vice-Commander over here?"

"What? Toshi?" Kondou looked at his subordinate, "I don't know..."

"Why not? He knows the case details, he's familiar with the court etiquette and I kinda have a feeling that he would make a passable woman," Gintoki smirked at Hijikata, "Hell, with that skin and those eyes he could even pass as a Yato."

To Hijikata's horror Kondou seemed to be seriously considering this, "Well, I _would_ feel much better if Toshi was the one to keep an eye on China-"

"You can't be serious!" Hijikata finally erupted.

"Gin-chan, I don't want a smelly Mayora as my guardian!" Kagura also protested.

"What the hell makes you think I would even agree to do this?" Hijikata snapped, "And why does it have to be _me?_ Sougo could do it just as well!"

"I don't want a stupid sadist as a guardian, either!"

"Really, Hijikata-san? You really want me to go to the royal gala? To the royal gala with all those lords and ladies, most of who pay our salaries? You want _me_ to go there? With _this girl?_ Okay, fine, if you're willing to take full responsibility. Bring me the dress!"

"Wait, I didn't quite think this over!" Hijikata hurried to stop him. Dammit, as much as he hated to admit it, he really _was_ the only guy in here who could do this. Still, he couldn't agree to something like this just like that. Hijikata rubbed his now painfully throbbing temple, "You sure it has to be me?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind doing it, but I'm too young and don't really know all that much about court etiquette," Shinpachi apologised, "You're the only one here with both looks and manners."

"Come on now, Vice-Commander-san. It's not such a big deal," the Yorozuya said, smirking.

"Please, Toshi! It would really put my mind at ease if you were to do it," Kondou begged.

Hijikata's eye twitched as he tried to control himself. He felt like killing something, preferably something with silver hair, but both Kondou and the princess were looking at him with puppy dog eyes and the damned Yorozuya was giving him a challenging look. Finally he was able get himself together and grit out, "Fine."

"Oh, how lovely!" Souyo cheered, then grabbed both Kagura and Hijikata and started herding them out of the room, "Now, if you two would come with me. We need to find you some proper dresses."

-x-x-x-

"What are all these people doing here?" Hijikata finally asked, glancing at the princess and wincing when one of the maids pulled at his hair.

"There's no need to worry, Hijikata-san. These are all my personal maids. They're professionals and will make you two look like respectable ladies in no time."

"But how come they're all attending to me?" There were far too many maids all hustling and bustling around him, obviously biting their cheeks to keep themselves from giggling while adding the hair-extensions. Meanwhile the Yato girl was left to her own devices, currently applying make-up to her pale face, "Do I really need this many people to put on a dress?"

"I'm sorry. I just assumed that you wouldn't be as familiar with this kind of behaviour as her highness and I," Souyo apologised, "If you'd rather attend to yourself, I should probably order them off."

All the maids looked almost heart-broken when they heard this, wordlessly pleading the princess to allow them to stay.

"No, that's all right," Hijikata sighed, "I appreciate the effort. I just hate to be a bother like this."

"Oh, it's nothing. After all, you look so lovely that we hardly have to do anything," Souyo smiled encouragingly.

Hijikata could feel his eye twitch. That wasn't really a comment he'd wanted to hear.

"My lady, we have the dresses," one of the maids informed them.

"Excellent!" Souyo left Hijikata's side to go and inspect the fabrics the servant girls had just brought in. Hijikata was amazed at how quickly she had been able to acquire them. After all, it had only been moments since that embarrassing measuring incident.

"What's that?" Kagura piped up.

"It's a hanfu," Souyo explained while one of the maids held up a red silk dress, "I wasn't sure what kind of formal wear I should get, but Gintoki-san told me that something like this would suit you."

Hijikata was relieved to see the long-sleeved silk robes. For a moment he had feared that the Yorozuya had asked the princess to get something more form-fitting, like a cheongsam.

"Cool!" Kagura commented, then stood up from her make-up stand, "Okay, I'm done!"

Hijikata's eyes widened in shock when he saw the mess on the Yato girl's face. He might not know much about make-up, but he was pretty sure some of that stuff wasn't supposed to go there.

"Come on, Mayora. I'll do yours too!"

He tried to bolt, but the girl just pushed him back to his seat and dammit, it was unfair how easily she could do it.

"Oh, your highness, that's amazing!" Souyo gasped. Hijikata looked at her like the princess had just lost her mind, "But, I think we should go with something a bit more traditional."

"You sure?"

"I'm sorry," Souyo escorted Kagura back to her seat and another maid started cleaning her face, "You two just leave everything to me and my girls."

Hijikata sighed in relief, but it was short-lived when he saw what the maids attending to him had pulled out, "What...?"

"Sir, you're going to need some make-up, too."

"But... All this?" What was all that, anyway? He could recognise maybe two or three of those bottles.

"Do not worry, sir," one of the women smiled at him, "We're professionals and we promise that after we're done, you'll look splendid."

Hijikata didn't really like that smile. He was sure that if the princess hadn't been present, these women would be squealing and making a fuss just like the hostesses had about a month ago. Dammit, why did people seem to have so much fun dressing him up?

Finally deciding that it would be best to just go with the flow, Hijikata slumped back into his chair. The worst part was that he would have to go through with this same ordeal tomorrow.

-x-x-x-

"I apologise for the wait, my dear sirs," Souyo announced to the room full of people, "May I introduce, the countess Shen Le and her lady-in-waiting Shi Si."

Hijikata stumbled forward when Kagura forcibly pushed him into the room, almost tripping on his long, blue robes. To his horror he could see that Kondou had apparently called for the rest of the Shinsengumi Captains, all of who were now staring at him in blank shock.

"Well, guys? What do you think?" Kagura asked excitedly, pulling Hijikata close and entwining their arms together, obviously waiting for some sort of comment.

Kagura was wearing a lavishly decorated crimson red hanfu, with her hair braided and pulled up with a butterfly hair ornament made of gold and rubies. Her lips were painted pink and the heavy mascara made her eyelashes look long and dark, bringing out the shockingly blue eyes.

Hijikata tried to keep himself from fidgeting too much in his own dark blue robes. He still thought that the women had gone a bit overboard with his get-up, especially with the long, black hair that ran all the way past his lower back, even when it was tied high with a platinum hair ornament resembling a lotus flower. He felt like wiping his face, but the thought of smearing the make-up and being forced back to the hands of the 'professionals' gave him enough self-control not to.

No one had said a word yet and Kagura frowned at them. The Shinsengumi Captains were having a dilemma. If they didn't say something soon, the Yato girl would beat them up, but if they commented on their looks, their Vice-Commander would beat them up. Finally Harada dared to open his mouth and Hijikata quickly punched him, watching in satisfaction as the bald man crashed to the floor.

"Anyone else?" he asked, glaring at the other Captains who quickly backed away, furiously shaking their heads.

"It suits you, Toshi," Kondou smiled encouragingly.

"Not really what I wanted to hear, Kondou-san," Hijikata muttered dejectedly.

"Wow! Kagura-chan, you look amazing!" Shinpachi clapped his hands and the Yato girl smiled, giving a little twirl and flapping her long sleeves like wings, "But are you sure you'll be able to fight in that get-up?"

"Well, it's a bit hard to run and kick with this," Kagura lifted the hem of her robe, "but my punches are still good," she did a few quick jabs, "I can just toss the outer gown and rip the hem a bit and I should be fine."

"Are you sure? That stuff looks pretty expensive," the Yorozuya spoke up and Hijikata felt himself tense. He was a bit surprised that the bastard hadn't started taunting him yet.

"Souyo says that it's okay."

"Indeed," the princess assured them, "I want to be of help to her highness, so this is the least I can do. Besides, the hanfu aren't custom made, so they're fairly cheap. I thought that it would fit the 'fallen aristocrat' look."

"Huh, you don't say," Gintoki pulled at the fabric of Kagura's robe, "So, how much is this stuff exactly?"

"Um, about 500 000 yen, I think."

Gintoki quickly let go of the fabric and he and Shinpachi backed away.

"Kagura, get out of that stuff."

"No, no! It's all right, really!" Souyo hurried to assure them, "Think of them as a gift."

"At least try to safe the shreds if you can," Gintoki whispered to Kagura, "We could still profit from them later."

"Toshi," Kondou spoke up, "These are the tracking devices I had brought here. We'll tie them to your ankles and Harada's unit will be monitoring them."

"I have to wear one, too?" Hijikata asked.

"Just for precaution," Kondou handed the small devices to Hijikata and Kagura, "The problem is that they're not communicators, so you won't be able to call for help if something goes wrong. Units 1 to 5 will be at the gala as security, but it's better if we're not seen together."

"Understood," Hijikata sighed.

"So, what are we going to do until tomorrow night?" Kagura asked.

"We have to return to the headquarters, but you and Toshi should probably stay here and get in character," Kondou gave Hijikata a friendly pat on the shoulder, "I really appreciate you for doing this, Toshi. I know it must be hard for you."

"I'll survive," Hijikata muttered.

Kondou gave him one last smile before bowing to the princess and leading his men out of the room.

"Try not to screw up tomorrow, China," Sougo commented before ducking away from a random object the girl threw at him.

"Kagura-chan! You're not at home!" Shinpachi scolded her.

"Actually I would appreciate it if you'd stop doing that at home, too," Gintoki grunted.

"It's not my fault that guy's always pissing me off!" Kagura tried to defend herself, "I'm so glad I get to be among sophisticated people for change."

"Excuse me, your highness," a servant suddenly appeared, kneeling down and handing a folded up paper to Souyo, "One of the officers left this message for 'that Chinese girl'."

Kagura snatched the message and quickly read through it.

"THAT BASTARD!"

She picked up an expensive looking vase and ran out of the room.

"Oh, gods! Kagura-chan, get back here!" Shinpachi yelled, running after her with confused Souyo and a horrified servant right at his tail.

Hijikata let out a tired sigh and leaned against the wall. Things were always so hectic when those guys were around. One day he would have to lecture Sougo about antagonising that girl.

"Looking pretty good, are we?"

Hijikata jumped and stared at the smirking Yorozuya. He had completely forgotten that the man was in the room, "I was wondering when you'd decide to speak up," Hijikata growled, "Having fun laughing at my expense?"

"Well, I was going to, but it's kinda hard to laugh when it suits you so well," Gintoki stepped forward and reached out to touch the long, ebony hair, "Seriously, it looks even better than it did last time."

Hijikata slapped the hand away and glared at the man, "I _really_ don't want to talk about that time," he tried to push past the Yorozuya, but a strong hand grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Hey, what did the gorilla mean when he said that this would be hard for you?"

"Nothing," Hijikata hissed, "Of course something like this is going to hurt my male pride. He was just being considerate," he glanced at the silver-haired idiot and tried to pull his arm free, "Unlike some people who just like to barge in on other people's jobs and tell them how to do them."

"Hey, I don't like this plan either," the Yorozuya snarled, "but I like the idea of what might happen to those girls even less."

"I want to save them too," Hijikata growled, "I just don't want to have to do this with _you._"

He gasped when he was suddenly pushed against the wall, the back of his head hitting the hard wood.

"What the hell are you-?" he fell silent when he saw the blazing red eyes. The Yorozuya leaned closer, so close that their foreheads almost touched.

"What the hell is your problem?" the Yorozuya growled, "If this is about that night, may I remind you that it was _you_ who initiated it, _you_ who practically begged me to do it, and _you_ who left that big bite mark on me. It took _two weeks_ for that mark to completely disappear, you know? So why the hell are you acting like it was all my fault?"

Hijikata tried to look away, but the man just grabbed his chin and forced him to look back, "It was just a one night thing," he finally snarled, "Let it go."

"I'm trying to, but you're acting all self-conscious about it," Gintoki growled, "I don't know how familiar you are with it, but usually a 'one night stand' means that life goes on normally afterwards."

"It is going on normally!"

"No, it's not!" Gintoki barked, "Why are you suddenly avoiding me and refusing to accept my help when you obviously need it?"

"That _is_ normal for me! I just don't like you! Ever thought of that?"

The Yorozuya stared at him long and hard, "I don't care whether you like me or not, but I know that this kind of behaviour isn't normal for you. I don't know what it is, but it's affecting your ability to work and since we're supposed to be on the same side, it's affecting _my_ ability to work, too. Get over it so that we can get this job done, and after that you can go to hell for all I care!"

Hijikata gritted his teeth. He didn't want to admit it, but the idiot was right. He _had_ been acting unprofessionally, and for personal reasons. He was supposed to be better than this, he was supposed to be able to hide his tumultuous emotions and do his goddamned job! And still he had been fighting against a perfectly logical plan, one that could save lives, all so that he wouldn't have to be in the same room as this idiot.

"Why you?" Hijikata muttered.

"Huh?"

"Why the hell did it have to be you?"

Gintoki looked surprised, but then he sighed and stepped back, allowing Hijikata room to breath, "I don't know," he said, "Why _did_ it have to be me?"

"Because you were there..." Hijikata whispered, rubbing his temple, "Because you _always_ have to be fucking there..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gintoki asked, obviously confused.

"What about you?" Hijikata countered, "What prompted you to go along with it?"

The Yorozuya blinked, apparently caught off guard with the question. He looked away and scratched the back of his head, "I don't know," he began, "I guess you kinda looked like-"

"Okay, stop."

"Huh?"

"I get it," Hijikata pushed himself off the wall and looked at the Yorozuya, eyes steady and head held high, "I apologise for the way I've acted. That was very unprofessional of me. You don't have to worry about my behaviour any more. I suggest we both forget about this and go do our jobs. The Shinsengumi appreciates your help with this investigation."

"Wait... That's it?" Gintoki looked a bit taken aback, "You mean that everything's suddenly okay? Just like that?"

"I wonder where that girl of yours ran to," Hijikata wondered, "We still have to come up with a believable background story."

"Hey, Hijikata-kun!"

But Hijikata was already walking out of the room and down the hallway.

It was all right now. He had just been a bit confused about that man's motives, but now he understood. The guy was just like everybody else.

"_Because you looked like..."_

"_I thought you'd be more like..."_

Really, all those people were the same, and he was used to dealing with that. In a sense it was a relief. Now he could just forget about that little incident and move on. Just like always.

Hijikata rubbed his temple, willing the migraine to go away.

Where the hell had that stupid girl run to?

-x-x-x-

**Author's notes:** So those of you that have read the old version of the fifth chapter probably noticed that I moved some stuff from that chapter to this one. I think it paces out better this way.

One thing I forgot to mention about the last chapter; Hijikata barging in to the Yorozuya as he pleases. Because he does that. Always. And Gintoki _always_ comments on that XD So him suddenly _not_ barging in is considered out-of-character for him.

I _love_ Hijikata and Kagura! They're my favourite characters in Gintama (everyone else is just there to make them look good)! Too bad they haven't had that many scenes together, besides that one scene in the Yagyuu Arc. I just loved the interaction between them XD Shen Le and Shi Si are the Chinese Pinyin readings of the kanji for Kagura and Toshi. I also decided to give them the Chinese Hanfu dresses since those just look _so beautiful!_ Google for 'hanfu' and see for yourselves. So yeah, this basically means that those pictures at my DA account are useless now, but I promise to draw new ones.

**Advertising time:** If you like my Gintama stories, there's also a short poetry-ish oneshot that I wrote titled "The Boy Who Smelt of Blood". It's not really GinHiji, but could be seen as such. I'd like to hear some comments for it, since it's the first time I've written something like that.


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